The Melbourne Bulldogs are taking a road trip to face off against the Spruce Creek Hawks at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Melbourne will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each contest than the last.
Melbourne's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. They put the hurt on Heritage with a sharp 19-0 victory. The result was nothing new for the Bulldogs, who have now won four games by ten runs or more so far this season.
Maddie Fostveldt was a major factor no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. She has been consistent : she hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with two RBI and one double. Those two RBI gave her a new career-high.
Layna Ayala
| 03/24/25 @ Heritage | 1 |
| 03/11/25 @ Viera | 1 |
| 03/10/25 vs Melbourne Central Catholic | 1 |
| 03/07/25 @ Oviedo | 1 |
| 03/05/25 @ Palm Bay | 2 |
In other batting news, Layna Ayala and Hailey Cottrill did most of the damage at the plate: Ayala got on base in all four of her plate appearances with one home run, three runs, and three RBI, while Cottrill scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances. Ayala is on a roll when it comes to home runs, as she's now launched at least one in each of the last five games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Parker Holton, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances.
Melbourne was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .438. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Meanwhile, Spruce Creek had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They walked away with a 7-2 win over the Wildcats. The game snapped a strange streak: the last five times these teams have met, it?s been the away team that?s taken home the W.
Reese Cianciarulo made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out seven batters over 4.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. Cianciarulo was also big at the plate, scoring three runs while going 3-for-3.
In other batting news, Avery Helms was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and one double. Another player making a difference was Meagan Cowoski, who scored a run while going 1-for-4.
Melbourne now has a winning record of 6-5. As for Spruce Creek, their record is now 7-3.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Melbourne hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.7 home runs per game. However, it's not like Spruce Creek struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.8 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Melbourne skirted past Spruce Creek 1-0 in their previous meeting back in March of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Melbourne since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
